CHICAGO – July is Military Consumer Month, and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) wants to ensure service members and their spouses who move to Illinois know about the assistance available to them when applying for professional licensure to work in the Land of Lincoln.
“These brave, selfless individuals and their families sacrifice so much for the safety and security of our country,” said IDFPR Secretary Mario Treto, Jr. “They rightfully deserve any assistance they need to ensure their family’s smooth transition when moving to Illinois, and IDFPR is ready to aid them should they need a professional license to work.”
Illinois law includes multiple provisions to help military service members (who are on active-duty or whose active-duty service concluded within the preceding two years) apply for professional licensure.
These provisions require IDFPR’s licensing team to have a Military Liaison who works with applicants and their military installation’s Military and Family Support Center throughout the licensing process, and for IDFPR to review applications within 30 days of receiving all required documents and fees. For more information about licensing assistance available to service members and their spouses, visit IDFPR’s website:https://idfpr.illinois.gov/military.html.
IDFPR is also developing a process that will enable active-duty service members and their spouses to apply for licensure with reduced requirements. Eligible applicants must have active- duty orders to be stationed in Illinois, hold an active license in their profession from another state, and have lawfully worked within the last two years in that profession. IDFPR will make an announcement and provide additional information when this initiative is launched.
In addition, the Federal Trade Commission has issued reminders on scams that target service members and their families, and how they can avoid falling victim. Those include:
- If you receive an unexpected call from your bank saying there’s suspicious activity on your account, call the bank yourself to confirm. Scammers use these calls to try to obtain your banking information
- If a recruiter contacts you about a high paying, work from home job, look the listing up and confirm it exists before responding. This might be a hijacked job posting that tries to obtain your personal information.
- If you find a deal on a place to live on social media, do your research before paying a deposit. Scammers post made-up rental listings for places that aren’t available to rent.
Additional financial readiness resources for service members and their families may be found at https://www.militaryconsumer.gov/.